“It is illegal, misleading and unprocedural for Government to Gazette Constitution Amendment Bill number 10 of 2019 without following the laid down processes and procedure, says leader of the opposition in parliament and UPND legal affairs Chairman,Jack Mwiimbu.
Addressing journalists at the UPND secretariat yesterday morning, Mr Mwiimbu said Minister of Justice, Given Lubinda’s statement that Government had opted to remove contentious clauses from Bill 10 was misleading as laid down Parliamentary procedures were not followed.
Mr Mwiimbu said the changes were based on a faulty modus operandi as it falls short of the Constitution amendment guidelines provided for under Article 77 of the Republican Constitution as amended in 2016.
He added that the Justice Minister chose to deliberately mislead the nation when he disregarded Standing Orders Number 108 and 112 which allows the National Assembly to table issues for debate before changes to any piece of legislation can be made.
He noted that the purpotted reliance on Standing Order 112 by Minister Lubinda was out of context as it was not supported by any provisions or rules and regulations governing conduct of parliamentary business.
He has since called on Zambians to treat the said changes with the contempt deserved, saying that the party’s position not to support the Bill has not changed.
(C) UPND MEDIA TEAM